Kill or Be Killed
by PurpleRain96
Summary: Cassiel Rhodes is a strong, confident sixteen-year-old of District 4, but when her name is called at the reaping she doesn't think it could get any worse. That is until her brother - Cory Rhodes - is called to be the male tribute. Cassie has never felt so unprepared in her life. But there's more to this game than they know, the gamemakers are figuring a way to make them the final
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of the light rippling of water. My golden curly hair was tangled in the thistles of the pillow of grass I made and my skin felt frostbitten and dry. I almost forgot how I got there, but then I remembered I wanted to catch a few fish before morning but I fell asleep before I even felt a nibble. But it also reminded me of something else. Today was the day of the reaping. It was my fifth year without being called to the stage, but I had much more of a chance of being called this year. I had put my name in twenty-five times. But that didn't concern me, what concerned me most was Cory, my brother, being called up to the stage. He put his name in forty-two times and it was his final year. If I was called this year I would want to win just to save my little sisters from this horrible fate next year when they turned twelve. When 'The Hunger Games' ended each year I would be relieved that we wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore but the older I got the faster time went and the sooner more people would die. This was life. This was what the world had to deal with and no matter what anyone did nothing would get better.

After catching a few fish I went back to my house before anyone woke up and threw two on the frying pan.

"Morning Cassie," Cory greeted, kissing me on the cheek from behind me.

"Morning," I smiled, stirring the square of butter in with the catfish.

There was silence behind me and I could tell Cory was sneering at me, so I quickly grasped the kitchen knife and threw it behind me. He moved so suddenly it whizzed right passed him and wedged into the wall.

"Nice going," Cory sniggered, tugging at the knife in the wall. "But remember, they're not going to hesitate when they're behind you."

"Cory, I know." I assured, accepting the knife from him. "I'm ready. Are you?"

He sighed and looked down nervously but then looked up and made an unconvincing smile.

"Guys, what have I told you about training inside?" Mum said.

"Morning Mum, happy Hunger Games," Cory muffled, kissing Mum on the cheek with a big piece of homemade bread stuffed in his mouth.

"Happy Hunger Games sweetheart," she hugged him back and then embraced me. "Happy Hunger Games, Cassie,"

_Please don't remind me,_ I thought. "Uh, yeah…Happy Hunger Games, Mum." I sighed, throwing a bit of basil in the frying pan.

"And may the odds be ever in your favour." She hugged me tighter, reading my thought that I was afraid. "Let me cook breakfast,"

After Dad got home and my little twin sisters woke up, we all sat at the table picking at the catfish and discussing last year's games. The male tribute from last year went to my school and everybody liked him. He even made it to the final two and thought that he might actually become a victor. We started getting excited when he held the brick high in his hand with the boy from district one pinned between his legs, but then district one suddenly turned him over and continuously hammered the brick against his head until the ground under him was stained red and his face was so horribly disfigured I had to run out of my house and cry until I felt sick. I knew this boy, Zane. He sat next to me in class sometimes and helped me out with fishing whenever he ran into me. He even said he wanted to see me when he was saying his last goodbyes. We hugged each other so tightly that one of the peacekeepers had to drag me out. His death still haunts me today.

"What about the girl last year? How long did she last again?" Tiana asked, eating the fish from her hands.

"I think she got shot by that district twelve boy or something." Cory answered.

"No, I think it was that district eleven girl."

"Girls, let's stop talking about this." Dad said with his eyes staying fixed on his plate.

"Dad, do you know what theme the arena is this year?" Luce asked eagerly, seeming to miss the worry in my father's voice.

"I don't know, alright? Could we please talk about something else?" Dad growled, dropping his knife and fork on the table in frustration.

Mum glared at Dad as if his emotions were wrong; that we were meant to be excited about today. Mum knew that this wasn't something to look forward to but it seemed like she thought she had to be excited. Tiana and Luce on the other hand grew up being thrilled about this. They even talk about how they would survive the games. I hated talking to them at this time of year, but this year – Cory and I putting our names in a whole bunch of times – they kept asking us how _we_ would survive.

* * *

Cory and I arrived at the training centre to the sound of grunting and metal against metal that rang in my ears. But my eyes gazed at the neat collection of knives. I picked up the smallest one and traced my eyes lightly along the blade. I felt empowered around knives, because I was extraordinary when it came to targeting.

"Cassie," Reisa, my trainer, greeted me cheerfully. "Do you want to go into the box today?"

I checked the clock above the entry door. Only fifteen minutes to go.

"Would I have time?"

"Totally, come on."

Reisa was another excited one whenever this time of year came around; especially for me. She was already twenty so it was too late for her to ever put her name in again.

She lead me to a pitch black dark room, buckled a knife holster around me that held every knife of every kind in each pocket and then left closing the door behind her. I was alone now with no light and no sound until a bright light shone from above me that revealed small slits in the ground that circled around me.

"Are you okay in there, Cassie?" Reisa's voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Yeah,"

"Okay, you're starting in three…two…one…go!"

When the whistle went off, two stiff boards shaped as men appeared on either side of me with blue targets glowing on their chests. Instantly, I seized two of the blades, threw one knife to my left that gyrated right through the cardboard man's heart and then threw the other knife to my right that also hit the target. The two hit targets disappeared into the ground and then four other cardboard men appeared. From then on, one cardboard man after the other, one blade after the other, I hit every single target as soon as it appeared. I was down to my last target now and instead of throwing the knife I stabbed the target and twisted the knife. I was relieved when the door opened. I was already tired and I almost forgot about the reaping.

"Great job, Cassie." Reisa smiled in enjoyment. "When you get picked, you'll kill it out there."

I could have easily screamed at her and stabbed her, but I knew that her mind couldn't be changed. But look at her! She was already talking about it as if I was already picked!

"Now go home, get dressed, it's about to start!"

After I arrived home I had a quick rinse and when I came out Mum had folded a white buttoned shirt, a flowing light pink skirt and black ballet flats. They all fit perfectly and it looked beautiful. As for my hair, I tied my long golden locks up with a silk ribbon. Anyone would think I'm dressed to go to a fun formal occasion.

Looking in the mirror made me think of saying 'goodbye' to Zane. As soon as I saw him in the small enclosed room I ran for him and he hugged me so tightly it was hard to breathe. Then I heard a sound, a sort of small whining and then I realised he was crying.

"Listen to me, Zane." I demanded, forcing him to focus on me. "You know how to use a sword, you're really good. You can do this."

"I'm not going to get sponsors, Cassie." he whimpered. "My mum's dead, my dad doesn't give a crap. I know nothing about survival, I'm going to die!"

"Ssh, no you won't. Listen, when you come home we'll have a huge party, I promise."

He tried to say something else but it wouldn't come out, he just nodded. I embraced him again, stroking his silky short black hair as he brushed my long blonde curls. And then the next thing I knew, we were kissing. We didn't stop until a peacekeeper came in to take me away. Zane started crying again and we held each other closely.

"Don't give up Zane, you can win!" I cried as the game maker grasped my arms and started pulling me out of the room.

That's when a distant bell rang. It was time.

"Cassie, it's time for the reaping!" Luce called eagerly.

* * *

Cory and I ambled in line next to each other. I looked at all the twelve and thirteen-year-olds wandering slowly with each other breathing unsteadily in fear. One of the young girls even had to be forced away from her mother.

"Next," the peacekeeper at the table demanded.

I handed her my hand and she jabbed my finger without hesitation making me wince. After printing the drop of blood on a piece of paper and she scanned it she dismissed me.

I noticed that there were peacekeepers fencing everyone in, blocking any way of escaping. I found Mum, Dad, Luce and Tiana in a small section away from the boys and girls units. Mum was trying to find Cory and me in the crowd while Dad was – what it looked like – praying quietly to himself.

"Get into the girls group." A male peacekeeper ordered sternly.

I quickly strode to the girls sixteen-year-old area where a girl with brunette hair in a bun was taking deep breaths and balling up her fists trying to stop them from shaking. My eyes scanned the boys section searching for Cory who I found was standing next to his friend, Philip. Cory found my eyes and made a small smile. _It's going to be okay,_ he mouthed to me. _Good luck,_ I mouthed back. He nodded and then the crowd went silent.

Out came Ulrik Davison with his bright orange hair done as if he were an ice-cream, lips coloured shiny dark blue with glitter, golden eye shadow and a black sequined outfit. When I was twelve and everybody first saw him, we couldn't quite tell if he was male or female but once we heard his low sleazy Capitol accent, we knew. Following Ulrik was Amos Lamb, the victor of The Hunger Games a couple of decades back. I once saw a rerun of his performance and he was one of the smartest people I ever thought possible, and he was muscular and handsome. But looking at him now I couldn't believe it was him. He had gotten so thin and every face he pulled made him look sick.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Ulrik greeted in the microphone in enthusiasm. "Welcome District Four! Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour. What a lovely bunch you all are. Before we begin, we have a very special film for you, brought to you all the way from the Capitol."

An old film played in the white sheet bannered up across the stage explaining why they hold The Hunger Games and why people have to die. As many times as I have watched it I could still never understand the inspiration in it. Ulrik's face was priceless. It looked as if the speech was an angel speaking. After it had finished he gave a big applaud and a few others small claps in the crowd.

"Now, it is time to select one fearless young man and woman for the honour of representing District 4 in the 58th annual Hunger Games. Starting off, we have the girls."

To his right was a glass globe with hundreds of small pieces of paper filling up. This is the part where your heart is beating so loud yet you can year everybody else's hearts thumping, including mine. Even though it only takes him a few seconds to pick out a name it doesn't feel fast enough.

Ulrik's hand stirred through the glass globe but he finally took out a slip from the bottom making a slimy smile. The panicked girl next to me was suddenly looking at me as she panted. I looked down and realised that we were holding hands. We didn't let go of each other.

"Cassiel Rhodes," Ulrik called.

All eyes were on me. My entire body had gone numb; so numb that it hurt. I had tried preparing myself for this day ever since I was twelve, why was I so paralysed?

"Where are you, Cassiel?"

My entire body was tingling and I stopped breathing. After all these years of training, all these years of building myself up, I had never felt so unprepared in all my life. Why? Why me? Out of all these girls surrounding me, why did it have to be _me?_ The girl next to me tugged at my hand reminding me that I had to be on the stage now.

"No," I whimpered quietly, holding the tight knot in my stomach that made me want to throw up. "I can't,"

People were getting so impatient with me that they had to get two peacekeepers to drag me out to the pathway. With no feeling in my legs I made my way up the stairs struggling to keep one foot going after the other without falling over. Everybody's staring was so intense that I could feel their eyes burning a hole in me.

_Calm down, Cassie, this is all just a dream. This isn't real._

"You're a nervous little thing," Ulrik swung his arm around me in a friendly embrace. "Congratulations Cassiel!" he cheered.

I spotted Dad linking his hands behind his head refusing to look anywhere else other than the ground. Mum stared at me along with Tiana and Luce, they almost looked…concerned.

"And now, for the boys,"

I looked back at Mum who knew I was panicking. _Its okay,_ she mouthed. _Everything will be fine._

My quickened breathing was starting to slow down and I nodded at her. I kept staring at her to find at least a small bit of comfort. But my peace didn't last long, because what Ulrik said was the worst thing I had ever heard in my life. _No, not him! Anybody but him!_

"Cory Rhodes."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"No! NO!" I screamed. "No, please, no! You can't do that, there has to be some rule about this!"

"The rule book doesn't say anything about family members, sweetheart." Ulrik grinned, petting me on the head.

"S-somebody, somebody _please_ volunteer for him!" I begged the crowd, panting so heavily I thought I was going to be sick.

Cory's face was horrifying. He looked as though he would shatter into a million pieces at any second. Why wasn't anybody saying anything?

"Somebody please, please volunteer!"

All the boys looked at each other nervously wondering who was going to call out.

"Phil! Phil, do something!" all eyes were on Phil bursting into tears and standing still as a statue. "PLEASE!" I sobbed. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, PHIL?! You know you want to! We can't fight each other."

No one said anything. Cory walked down the walkway with two peacekeepers. His face was blank and staring at one spot. I guess he was just as shocked and afraid as I was; only he didn't have the strength to move.

"I'm guessing you two are brother and sister," Ulrik said.

He handed the microphone to me but I broke down and collapsed to the ground crying uncontrollably.

"Yes," Cory said emptily. "She's my sister."

"Oh how wonderful!" Ulrik cheered. "Our District 4 tributes, everybody! Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour."

As the Panem anthem played, two peacekeepers picked me up by the arms and dragged me off the stage while I tried breathing again. Cory was going to be in The Hunger Games, with _me! _My family will definitely have one less bell to answer when this was all over. Either way, I was never going to see Cory again.

The Peacekeepers lead me into a small room that Zane and I were in when we were saying 'goodbye'. I sat on a small fluffy armchair trying to get rid of the tight knot that was still in my stomach. What would Cory be doing right now? Would he be bearing down all this fear and panic or would he just let it fly before we had to face a world of cameras?

Mum, Dad and the girls finally came in and Tiana raced straight for me in tears.

"I'm so sorry, Cassie." she choked. "I'm so sorry, I t-take back everything I…I said!"

I couldn't believe how hysterical she was. Every year she was so excited at the thought of either Cory or me fighting to the death and here she was in a state I had never seen her in.

"Tia…Tia listen," I sniffled, holding her hands tightly. "No matter what happens, don't you dare put your name in tesserae next year, you don't need this. Dad will teach you how to fish and you can sell it and also make dinner. The same goes to you Luce, don't put your name in anymore times no matter what. This isn't worth it."

"You can't die, Cassie." Luce sobbed as she hugged me along with Tia's arms around my neck, staining my white shirt. "You can't both die!"

This was only getting harder and harder for me to let them go. "Girls, I don't have much time. I love you both and be strong!" I kissed both their cheeks and hugged them one last time.

I went over to Mum and Dad whose faces were both pale and hands were shaking. Mum held a basket with a small plaid blanket covering whatever was in there. It smelt nice.

"Did you see him already?" I asked them. Dad nodded. "How is he?"

"He's…he's okay," Dad said, but that gave enough indication of how terrified he was.

"I um…I brought you something for the trip." Mum stifled, lifting the plaid blanket revealing short bread, sugar covered biscuits; my favourite.

That tugged a string in me and I fell into her arms gagging on my tears and hugged Dad with my other arm.

"D-Dad, if I don't come back I won't be able to teach them how to fish and if Cory doesn't come back he won't be able to teach them how to use a weapon. You need to train them, no matter how much you miss Cory and me you need to be there for them. Promise me."

I swung both my arms around Dad, both of us shaking vigorously.

"Okay," he whimpered. "Okay, I promise. But Cassie, _you_ have to promise to try. You might feel weak now but don't let that be a reason to give up."

Why wouldn't I try? Was it because I was competing with Cory? Because he thought that I was positive I wasn't going to win?

"I promise, Daddy, I promise."

"Time's up everyone," a peacekeeper called.

Suddenly, I yelped and threw my arms around Mum, Dad and the girls. Knowing that this was probably the last time I would ever see my family again was one of the scariest things about today.

"Be safe, Cassie." Mum cried.

The others kept crying things at me that I couldn't understand then they were all hauled out by the peacekeeper.

"I love you guys!" I shouted just as he closed the door.

Everything hurt now, my body was screaming at me to calm down. I was startled as the door opened again. It was the girl who was standing next to me at the reaping. I remembered her name was Ingrid.

"Here," she said, reaching into her pocked and attaching a golden cross around my neck. "God will be with you and so will I. I'll be there with you."

I had no idea who she was but she was already my best friend.

"I'm sorry you have to face your brother. I can't imagine how you must feel right now."

I wanted to say something to her but I had no idea what.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything." Ingrid said. "Good luck, Cassie."

Phil came in looking both frightened and guilty.

"PHIL. YOU. IDIOT!" I screeched, beating his chest brutally. "YOU JUST KILLED US!"

"Ca-Cass, stop it!" he yelled. "I di-"

"How could you? _Why?!_ Why would you do this to your best friend?"

"Cassie, he didn't want me to volunteer! Before the reaping he told me that no matter what happened I had to promise not to volunteer."

"Get out!"

"If I had a choice, I would have."

"Phil, get out of here! Please, if you don't want me to kill you right here you need to get out."

Phil hesitated for a moment, hugged me quickly and left whispering that he was sorry.

Not long after I said all my 'goodbyes' I was lead into a long silver train that immediately took my breath away. I had never seen a place so luxurious. Everything was so clean it looked like it was never used. The peacekeepers sat me down in a bright red soft chair. Cory came in not long afterwards sitting on the red chair next to me.

We threw our arms around each other as soon as the peacekeeper left. I could feel his heart hammering with mine.

"I'm sorry," was all I said.

"N-no, don't…it's not your fault." he stuttered.

"They can't do this, right? They're going to get you off the train and they're going to choose someone else."

"No, Cassie, the train is already leaving."

"There has to be a rule about his, Cory. I don't care what people say, we can't fight against each other."

"They're not going to listen to us. Brother and sister plus fight to the death equals a great show. They're just going to make it more exciting for the audience."

"No…_no!"_

"Cass, listen to me. If Dad was here what would he say to us?"

"He-he would…he would say…that we're fighters."

Dad always told us that whenever things were really rough. Like the time I was sent to the hospital because my appendix exploded. I was scared but when Dad held my hand and told me 'you are a fighter' I wasn't so scared anymore. Or, the time when Cory couldn't throw an axe at targets anymore he thought that all hope was lost and he would never be able to regain that strength again. But then Dad told him that he was a fighter and he was back on his feet and throwing axes right through cardboard men.

I tried imagining Dad's voice saying that to me again. '_You are a fighter, Cassie.'_

"That's right," Cory smiled. "Now say it. Say that you're a fighter."

"I'm a fighter," I took a breath and wiped my tears away. "You say it too,"

"I'm a fighter," he said.

We both repeated the words in sync with each other a skinny, bony man came in with long scraggly black hair and pale skin. It was Amos Lamb.

"Congratulations," he said to us quietly, sitting on the red chair in front of us.

He didn't sound like that on the rerun. He sounded brave and heroic like he could take on anything that confronted him. Was this what the Games had done to him?

"The Capitol's sure going to like you two." he nodded. "This makes it interesting. I bet the game makers are already deciding on what to do with you in the arena."

Cory's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that brother versus sister is driving them all nuts with ideas and they'll want to figure a way for you two to kill _each other."_

"But they wouldn't do that; they wouldn't force us to kill each other." I said in disgust.

Cory grabbed my hand and looked at me. "Yes, they would."

This news was probably helping me more than I let on. But it only made me more frightened.

"What else?" I asked, hoping he would change the subject.

"The rest you will have to wait for tomorrow."

"Wait, tomorrow?" Cory said sternly. "Then why the hell did you come here and rub all this crap in our faces?!"

"I just came to introduce myself." Amos's voice was still the same quiet tone. He stood up and headed for the door. "Now enjoy the ride and do whatever you want."

Before we could protest he had already left. Cory pushed back in his chair.

"I hate today," he said with a red face and gritted teeth, pushing himself back a few more times. "I hate it! _I_ _hate it!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As soon as I found my room, I dressed in a plain purple shirt and grey track pants, took the ribbon out of my hair and I crawled into bed even though it was only early afternoon. I couldn't believe this day hadn't ended yet, it already lasted forever. I dreamt about being in the arena facing Cory. He held a large axe tightly in his hand and the twenty-two other tributes.

"What are you waiting for, four?" a wide eyed girl said eagerly behind him. "Kill her!"

Cory's face spread into a wide smile and he stepped up to me ready to take a swing with his axe.

Panicked, I reached into my jacket expecting knives but every pocked was empty. Cory laughed at me and moved closer. I turned to run but I just couldn't. My legs wouldn't move.

"Cory, it's me, it's Cassie! You don't have to do this." I said.

The twenty-two other tributes disappeared behind him. "There has to be a winner, Cassie." he whispered.

Then he swung his axe at me and I woke up gasping in a dark room.

"Mum," I mumbled. "I had a bad dream…I got called at the reaping and so was Cory and he wanted to kill me."

I turned over trying to get more sleep but I noticed something strange. The bed, it was comfy; too comfy. A soft feather pillow and silk sheets? I was on the train! It took me a while to grasp that I hadn't been in the arena yet and Cory and I were chosen as tributes and no one would volunteer. As much as it made me want to scream, I had to face the truth.

"Cassiel, its dinner time, come and join us!" Ulrik's voice called chirpily from outside my door.

_Oh god, I didn't know he was on the train too!_ I sighed and kicked the blankets off me. I didn't realise how long I had slept for. I must have really stressed myself out to exhaustion.

I ambled into the  
dining room where Amos, Ulrik and Cory all sat at a long table that was heaped with food. The look of it made my stomach growl. I was starving. Cory and I were happy to see each other when I sat next to him. I guess it was nice seeing a family member's face.

"I-is that…?" I gasped, staring at the plate piled with crispy drumsticks causing my mouth to drool.

"Chicken? Yes, it is my friend." Cory smiled, loading my plate up with five chicken drumsticks. "Dig in,"

"Get out!" I exclaimed in excitement, gobbling two of the drumsticks in just seconds.

I only ever had chicken once in my life and fell in love with it. Dad went fishing once but found a chicken wandering by. We assumed that it was an escaped chicken from the poultry farm but we risked not turning it in. I never forgot the greasy, juicy warm taste of it and craved to someday have a lifetime supply of it, but living in a district where fish is the main meat we weren't very lucky to ever catch another one.

"Easy there guys, you don't want to make yourselves sick." Amos warned, laughing quietly. "Now, while we're all here I just wanted to say sorry for this morning. The reaping just brought a few memories back."

I should have thought that earlier, but I was too busy worrying about Cory. "That's okay," I nodded.

"Okay, well now I can officially talk. What weapons can you use?" his voice was a little bit brighter but still quiet.

"I'm good with axes," Cory shrugged.

"Good or brilliant?"

"Amazing," I answered for him. "In the training stadium he once threw an axe so hard into the dummy they couldn't get it back out."

Cory rolled his eyes and nudged me teasingly. "Cassie is excellent with knives. The can hit every single dummy when she's training in the box."

"That's great, but don't use them in the training centre. Let them think you're weak."

"That doesn't make sense. Shouldn't we make people afraid of us?" Cory asked.

"Not outside the arena. Make people think you're afraid and weak. Make people like you."

"I have friends…a few." I admitted.

"Why is that?"

"I don't really know how to make people like me."

"So you spend your extra time fishing and throwing knives?"

"…yes?"

"Exactly; you show them you can use a knife when first you should show people how friendly you are. Tomorrow's the tributes parade and you two have to show the Capitol that you care about them and you want to be their friends.

Become friends with people who find innocent children's death entertaining? What a joke! How can I care for people who want to see how I die? I guess I did feel a little bit bad for them. They had gone through their whole lives to be convinced that this was a good thing. I wanted to help them, but I knew it wasn't possible.

"So…what should we do when we're there?" Cory asked.

"Blow them kisses, throw a piece of your jewellery into the audience, they _love_ that stuff. Remember, you're celebrities they think your amazing and want to be you. Give them something that will make their heads spin. Also, when you're being styled up tomorrow, try keeping your mouths shut."

My mouth was wet with chicken grease. Amos was right. I shouldn't have eaten so much so fast. There were still so many other things on the table that I wanted to stuff my face with but I already felt like I was going to be sick.

"Now I want everybody up bright and early tomorrow. We'll be in the Capitol before you know it." Ulrik ordered.

_Oh yeah, you're here too._ He was so quiet all this time that I had forgotten he was here.

"Oh god," Cory groaned in disgust as if he was thinking the same thing.

Ulrik gave Cory a nasty glare. I couldn't help myself, I started laughing.

In the morning I could hear squealing. I thought it was the train's wheels but the train wasn't moving. I opened the drapes, and there it was; the Capitol with millions and millions of screaming fans pointing at me screaming, waving and taking photos. They loved me already. They only saw the video of the reaping at district 4 and they already loved me.

Remembering Amos's words I started waving at everyone. That made everyone crazy and waving back at me trying to push away anyone that was in their way of my view.

Ulrik said there wasn't enough time for getting changed or to eat breakfast so Cory and I had to step off the train as we were into the loud atmosphere of the Capitol. There were squeals surrounding us and citizens trying to reach for us with the peacekeepers in the way. Cory and I pulled of our most convincing smiles and waved and blew kisses at them all.

I was glad to get inside away from all the noise but then I was brought into a private room where I was immediately stripped down to my skin. It took me a few minutes to realise that Ulrik forgot to mention that there was a big day ahead of us from morning until night.

I was soon lying on a table where I was completely bare and they sponge bathed me, washed, combed and trimmed my hair, filed my nails, shaved my under arms and pasted warm green goo on my legs and covered it with a strip. Before I came to my senses to ask what it was, they tore it off leaving behind a throbbing, stinging, burning, painful sensation. I lurched forward yelping.

"Ooh, sorry sweetie. We must have left that one on for too long." One of my stylists, Quincy, apologized with a grin.

_'That one'? You mean there's more?_ I wanted to say but I considered what Amos said and kept my mouth shut.

What would they be doing to Cory right now? Surely not getting his legs waxed or his armpits shaved. He was probably already meeting his stylist which reminded me of last year's tributes at the parade. The stylists did an awful job dressing Zane and the girl – I think her name was Hester – in tiny glitter fish when only wearing full skin-coloured body swimsuits. The Capitol loved them but I couldn't help but think it was as if they were ashamed of how they looked so they thought that anything else would make them look better.

The last stylist finally left an hour later and I was finally on my own. What time was it? Probably still morning but it feels like it should be later. I already miss everyone, even Cory and he was only a few rooms away from me. I missed fishing in the morning with Dad before he went to work. I even missed putting my name in tesserae, that way I knew that I was home. _Can I go home now?_

The door opened to a man with dark skin, black and white striped hair pulled back in a short ponytail and he wore white eyeliner on both bottom and top eyelid.

"Hello Cassiel, I'm Wyatt." he greeted.

"It's nice to meet you Wyatt."

"There are no cameras on you right now so you can just be yourself. What do you think of all this?"

"I hate it," I said with no hesitation. "I hate the Capitol, I hate the stylists, I hate my mentor and I hate being here with my brother."

Wyatt looked confused and embarrassed. I started feeling bad for saying it. The Capitol didn't mean anything they did, the stylists were just doing their jobs and Amos wasn't doing anything wrong. But I meant it when I said I hated being here with Cory.

"I'm so sorry, Cassiel. Being in a Career district I would have thought that that whole thing in the reaping was an act."

Oh yeah, that's right. I'm a Career tribute. I'm supposed to be excited about this because I know how to use a weapon and I'm in one of the wealthier districts so I'm meant to be stuck up and snobby.

"Why would I fake being scared at the thought of killing my brother?" I asked.

"I apologize, the Career tributes I've worked with don't usually care who they're reaped with. I don't like the Games myself, but I wanted to do something for the people who were accepted in it. I wanted to help them."

He wasn't half bad. He was the most regular person I had seen all day.

"So, am I getting dressed up?" I asked.

"Let's have breakfast first,"

_Breakfast? It's _still_ the morning?_ We sat at a table heaped with food – half of it I probably wouldn't eat – but I only took some bacon and toast that looked like it was fried with egg and butter.

"So what would you like to be dressed in?" Wyatt asked, picking out a bunch of food.

"Um…I don't really know. I've never been to a parade."

"Let me rephrase that; what would you _not_ like to be dressed in?"

"I don't want to offend you."

"I didn't do the costumes last year. You can be honest. You didn't like it, did you?" he said. I shook my head. "Did you see district 2's costumes last year?"

"Yeah, they were fantastic."

"I agree. I made them."

"So, why did you get demoted to district 4?"

"Because I had a brilliant idea," he grinned.

_We're going to dress in fish costumes and put in a large fish tank, aren't we?_

That really did happen one Hunger Games, it almost killed the tributes but the crowd thought they were acting like dead fish and loved it so it was still legal.

"Does it involve water?"

"No, it involves bubbles."

I was completely lost now, but I had no choice but to trust him. I was glad I did though.

I stuck the small flat device at the roof of my mouth. It tasted of plastic and metal. I was afraid of swallowing it.

"It feels uncomfortable." I said to Wyatt as two avox's and many beauticians surrounded me.

"That will pass; soon you won't even feel it. Oh frex, this looks great!" he exclaimed happily, hooking his hands behind his head as he circled me. I hadn't even seen what I looked like yet. "Cassiel, everybody is going to love you, you look fantastic!"

"You still haven't told me what this thing is," I said, rubbing my tongue along the object in my mouth.

"It isn't turned on yet, but when it is and you're out there you'll love it."

"Will it hurt?"

"You'll barely feel it. Now turn around, you're done."

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. From the waist down my tight skirt had blended into what resembled green fish scales – it almost didn't look like a skirt – my fingernails were painted light pink and sea blue decorated with ocean creatures, my top half had a silky pink bikini bra covered in tiny diamonds and fish (my belly had a removable diamond), I had on my neck prosthetic gills that looked realistic, my face was covered in glitter and lovely ocean blue make up but what I loved most about my costume was my hair, upon my beautiful golden head was a crown made of coral, colourful various sea shells and pearls – real pearls.

"Oh Wyatt," I sighed in awe, my eyes glued to the beauty of myself in the mirror. "It's beautiful, thank you."

We met Cory, Ulrik and Cory's stylist, Eileen, in a room with all the other tributes who were dressed in their fabulous outfits. Cory was dressed in the same outfit as me except for the bikini bra and his crown was more masculine than mine. He was sticking the small metal object in his mouth as I stared at the other tributes garments. I felt sorry for the District 12 tributes; they always had the most boring clothes – orange jumpsuits, helmets and pickaxes – at the parade and never impressed anyone because they were usually the first ones to die in the bloodbath. Everyone else's costumes were as amazing as they were every year; although District 3 looked odd with wires and buttons forming into a dress, tuxedo and odd hair pieces.

"Nice costume," I smiled at Cory as we stepped onto our carriages. "You'll get sponsors coming out of your ears after this."

"Me? Look at you! _You're_ the princess," Cory commented.

We smiled at each other brightly and went in for a hug.

"_Uh-uh!_ Don't destroy my masterpiece!" Wyatt warned, pushing us away from each other abruptly.

Cory and I pointed at each other humorously as if to say '_you better remember that'_. We kept our humour up for a while until I noticed a certain absence. Even though we only spent a day with him and he didn't talk very much, I couldn't deny that he was missing.

"Where's Amos?" I asked.

"Probably out smoking dope," Eileen said casually, reapplying her bright pink lipstick.

"That's why he always looks stoned." Cory laughed, probably expecting that I would laugh back.

But I didn't. I was beyond laughing. I wanted to run up to Amos and smack him in the face or throw a knife between his eyes. "We're screwed," I mumbled.

We were soon all aligned into our district order and two wide doors opened to deafening squeals and cries of excitement.

"Cassie! Cory!" I could barely hear Wyatt call over the racket. "Blow kisses!"

Then our carriages took off towards the deafening screaming that echoed through the stadium. The people in The Capitol were so wide-eyed, so excited and some were even crying. Of course they were going crazy over District One and Two but Wyatt said he wanted us to give them something they wouldn't forget.

They were going wild with our costumes anyway but I couldn't get how Wyatt thought that this could be something they would remember for the rest of their lives. Then I remembered the object in my mouth. _Blow kisses!_

And so I did. The crowd went berserk and I gasped and laughed in amazement. Coming out of my mouth were bubbles. I couldn't even feel them.

"Blow kisses!" I called to Cory.

His reaction was the same and we both laughed and repeated the kisses to the crowd over and over again and watched them catch them and faint.

They loved us. They really loved us! But my heart sank when I realised they only loved us because we have a two in twenty-four chance of surviving.


End file.
